‘Indian Crowd Gave us Lot of Love at Airport, Just Like Our Fans in Pakistan’: Mohammad Rizwan – News18

Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan opened up on the love and reception he and his teammates received after arriving in India for the ODI World Cup 2023. The Pakistan team travelled to India after almost 7 years as the last it was the 2016 T20 World Cup when they played in India. Babar Azam and Co. received a warm reception at the Hyderabad airport.

Rizwan was overwhelmed by the love he received at the airport and said it was the same Pakistan team gets in their own country.

“The Indian crowd gave us a lot of love at the airport itself, just like how our fans love us back in Pakistan. We were welcomed in India in a great way,” Rizwan told broadcasters after the first innings in the warm-up match against New Zealand.

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Rizwan also tweeted about the amazing reception on his X account.

“Amazing reception from the people here. Everything was super smooth. Looking forward to the next 1.5 months,” Rizwan wrote on the microblogging platform.

The Pakistan wicketkeeper batter scored a sublime century in the warm-up match against New Zealand. He scored 9 fours and 2 sixes during his 94-ball 103-run knock as he retired out after completing his ton.

“A hundred is a hundred, proud and happy of it. Scoring a century for Pakistan is always special,” Rizwan added.

Talking about his batting, Rizwan said he plays according to team requirements as his batting order is not the same in all three formats.

“In T20Is I open for Pakistan, in Tests I bat at 6-7 and in ODIs I bat at number 4, I play according to the team requirements,” he added.

He heaped praise on young Saud Shakeel who scored 53-ball 75 in the warm-up match.

“Saud Shakeel is in great form and he played a classy knock today. Hopefully he turns out to be a great player in the ODI format as well,” he said.

In the end, he shed light on his partnership with Babar Azam as the duo stabilised Pakistan’s innings after the openers’ early departure. They shared a 126-run stand for the third wicket.

“I and Babar try to rotate the strike, we bat similarly, our communication is good and that helps us,” he concluded.